Final Decision
by AuroraExecution
Summary: When Kritiker gives Weiss the choice to disband, the four members are faced with the most difficult order they have ever received. -End of Kapitel- Reviews would be lovely. Completed, with Epilogue.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I would love to own Weiss, but I would probably end up killing Aya by smacking him on the head with a rock to make him stop angsting. So it's probably a good thing he is not really my property.

**Notes:** This is my first WK fic. I'm not sure if the quality is up to par compared to my other stuff. (Of course, I think my insecurity may be because I've read several really good WK fics lately.) Anyway. This takes place directly at the end of Kapitel, right before that last little bit with the guys in the alleyway. You'll see what I mean. Basically, it's after the final battle with Schwarz, and the gang has returned to the Koneko, but they haven't gone on their rampage in the alley yet.

If you have any thoughts, please do leave me a note.

By the way, this is going to be a prologue, 4 chapters, and an epilogue.

* * *

Final Decision

_Prologue_

"Minna-saaaaan!" As Omi's voice echoed through the Koneko, sounds of pounding footsteps came from various corners as three groggy assassins made their ways to the basement. Yoji was the first to arrive, and flopped down on a chair, nearly falling back asleep. Next came Ken, who also took one of the comfortable chairs as he raised an eyebrow curiously at Omi, who merely smiled brightly. Ken wondered briefly at Omi's ability to be so happy so early in the morning every day.

Everyone felt Aya entering, even though he was silent. The obscuring sensation that he used to incite was no longer there. He did not hide his entrance like he usually did. Yoji grinned up at Aya, as if to berate the redhead for letting his guard drop so much from usual.

Aya gave a lopsided smile, to which his three companions replied in like kind. They were all glad to see Aya slowly learning how to open himself a little. The swordsman was still quiet, and still secretive, but he laughed now, and he stopped trying to push Sakura away. His sister, of course, helped the issue greatly as well.

"Good morning!" Omi said cheerily. "Birman wanted to talk to us."

"Eh?" demanded Yoji, eyebrow shifting to the top edge of his sunglasses. Birman appeared on their staircase, walked slowly down, and was silent for a few seconds, trying to decide how to word her next sentences.

"So. Since Eszett is destroyed, and you have fulfilled all your missions, Weiss _can_ be disbanded. I know that some of you have spoken to Manx about leaving Weiss, and I am aware that, as Eszett has been destroyed, the _most_ pressing need for Weiss is gone. However, Eszett is not the only evil in this world, and there will always be a need for Weiss. Choose carefully, because the choice you make today will affect Kritiker's next moves."

"What if some of us stay and some of us leave?" Yoji asked.

"In the case that only some of you choose to remain, Kritiker will either find you new teammates to fill in for those who leave, or we will create a new team for you."

"And if none of us stay?" Ken wanted to know.

"Then Kritiker will default to its other organizations, and build new ones. We will have to make do without Weiss, as we have no longer anything to hold any of you here. Therefore, we will not stop you from leaving."

"How long do we have to think about it?" queried Omi softly, looking away from his friends and directly at Birman.

"I would prefer an answer in the next few days, so I'll set you a time limit of two days. Otherwise, knowing you, a few of you would simply never make any decision at all." All of Weiss looked towards something safe, such as the floor or a chair cushion.

"Can we leave later, if we choose to stay now?" Yoji raised his glance briefly to look curiously at Aya.

"I suppose it depends on the circumstances. You can always leave, if you really want to, but if you choose to stay now, Kritiker will take it that you wish to remain in Weiss permanently…or at least for a while yet. Of course, if you choose to run off on your own after agreeing to stay, there is really very little we can do, besides try to talk you into returning." She sent a significant look back at the redhead, who nodded.

"We'll have your answers in two days," he said, returning up the stairs.


	2. Aya

**Notes:** I finished Kapitel just before I started writing this fic, so I didn't find out so much about the OVAs, and Gluhen, and the manga stuff until after this was done. So after a little editing, I decided to just put it up like this. We're just going to say that they're in the big pink RV mode of life, but during the story, they've stopped back at the Koneko briefly to visit Aya-chan, Sakura, and Momoe-san. Or something. Please don't criticize how close (or, I guess, how far) I am from canon. I'll ignore you if you do that.

Otherwise, I'd love to hear any comments. Thanks very much to Flash Roses and BlueFreesia for their reviews.

* * *

_Aya_

Aya wondered how he would spend the rest of his life. _Take Aya-chan and go somewhere warm, find a job_…Aya frowned. He did not want to find another job in construction. The last time he had taken one, but he was secretly just a little glad when he decided to quit and return to Weiss. Of course, he was mostly worried about his sister then, but somewhere he had rejoiced—only a bit, mind—that he no longer had to be degraded by the construction bosses for carrying a coil of wire the wrong way or nailing a beam a hairsbreadth crooked. He knew they were just baiting him, because Aya's perfectionist expectations were already pretty high. He had found himself thinking of Weiss that day, and imagining what Yoji would have done with the wire or Omi with the nail, had they witnessed the boss's punishments for Aya.

No matter what, though, Aya wanted his sister to have a home, and perhaps finish up the schooling she had before the incident. Aya-chan was a very smart girl, after all, and that should not be wasted.

He was also unsure of what to do about Sakura. She had told him she would expect nothing of him, after she learned his story, but somewhere, he held a bit of affection for the girl, which he grudgingly admitted was a form of rare friendship. In quite a different way than his friendship with Yoji and Omi and Ken, of course.

Aya sighed, thinking he might possibly miss his fellow florist-assassins more than a little. He had missed them last time he left. Only a little though. He knew they all had their own lives to live. Omi was probably going to get some top-level job in Kritiker, maybe, now that he was almost done with school. Ken would go back to being a soccer coach, in Australia perhaps. Yoji…Aya was not terribly sure _what_ Yoji would do. Probably find some flat, live off of his assassin's fortune, and pick up girls at bars. Either that, or go back to being an investigator, though Aya highly doubted Yoji would do that kind of work again. Yoji would have to hate himself quite a bit to force himself back into investigation, with the memories it gave him—and Aya knew that, while Yoji suffered, he rarely waxed self-destructive.

_Not like me_, the swordsman thought grimly. Though it _was_ much better now. Aya-chan's presence, a reminder of his success in keeping his promises, and Sakura's company, a reminder that he could be loved by someone, made him much less moody than before.

Occasionally, he found himself smiling and laughing. It had been a long time since he had been comfortable like that. He shrugged now, thinking he really should be planning his future instead of reminiscing over his past. Outside, the sun shone down gently, as Aya-chan ran out the Koneko's doors to meet Sakura. The two of them moved back inside, smiling blissfully.

"Onii-san?" Aya-chan looked at her brother in concern.

"Is everything all right, Ran-san?" Sakura demanded, now concerned as well.

"Aya-chan…" said the brother. "How would you like to leave Tokyo and go somewhere warm?" Aya-chan smiled.

"You mean…for a vacation? Oh! We should go to Hokkaido, and we could bring Sakura-san and Omi-san and Ken-san and Yoji-san…" Her eyes shone. "Can we really?"

"I…I'll see," replied Aya-Ran, trying not to disappoint his sister. He definitely did not want to confront her with the idea of really truly leaving Tokyo, to never see Weiss or Sakura again, probably. Aya-chan, meanwhile, hugged him.

"You are the best onii-san ever! Sakura-san and I are going to the movies now. We'll be home in two hours."

"Nn." Aya-the-swordsman answered, making a noise of approval.

Soon, Sakura and Aya-chan had giggled their way from the store.

"Aya-kun!" Omi half-shouted and half-whined as he entered from the back, holding a large potted calla lily. "I could use a bit of help!" Aya went quickly to take the plant and move it to the large pink trailer as Omi directed.

"What are you going to do, Omi?" the redhead asked. Omi looked confused.

"I'm going to ready the store for the afternoon schoolgirls, like usual." Aya sighed.

"I meant…do you think you're going to leave Weiss?"

"Oh." An unsure look crept into Omi's eyes. "I don't know yet. We've got two days, haven't we?" Aya shrugged.

"Eh. Just wondering."

"Have _you_ decided already, Aya-kun?" Aya flipped through all his thoughts from the afternoon as he stood, silent, before Omi.

"Yes," he said finally. There was a longer silence, as Omi gave him a most convincing so-are-you-going-to-tell-me-what-you-chose look, and Aya simply remained expressionless. Finally, the swordsman gestured towards an incomplete display of violets. "I'll go get some more of those." And he vanished into the back room.


	3. Omi

**Notes:** Hmm...might as well post all of this as soon as I can. Again, please don't criticize how far I am from canon. I WILL ignore you if you try.

Otherwise, I'd love to hear any comments. Thanks very much to Yuutousei and BlueFreesia for their reviews.

Yuu-san: Sorry about the Hokkaido thing. I just saw them go to Hokkaido in Azumanga Daioh, and it looked warm. ; Well, we can pretend that Aya-chan just used "somewhere warm" as a synonym for "vacation."

Here's Omi!

* * *

_Omi _

Omi had no idea what he wanted to do now.

He thought life would continue like normal, now that they had finished their mission to stop Eszett's leaders. Well, almost normal. He had imagined that Aya-chan would stay at the Koneko, and Sakura-chan would visit. He thought Yoji would womanize, and Ken would be his usual kind self, and Aya would clear out the flower shop trailer when things got too loud. And then Yoji would tease everyone, Ken would be embarrassed by the girls, and Aya would occasionally make a joke. And maybe sometimes Kritiker would send them a mission, and they would take it. Then afterwards, one of them would have a few issues to deal with, and the others would understand and let each other deal, and the next morning they would open the flower shop again smiling.

Which was basically what had happened.

Until now.

He knew they had all been avoiding what Birman forced them to confront—did they want to give up each other in exchange for the end of being an assassin? None of them were terribly proud of being killers, per se, but they had all formed an attachment to Weiss in the years they had been together. Which was why Omi should have expected to see what he did the last time he returned to the Koneko when Weiss disbanded. Yoji and Ken had not surprised him at all, other than for the first few seconds. The two of them always treated Weiss like their home. But Aya… Truth be told, Omi was not as surprised to see Aya as he should have been. It was, indeed, a small shock that Aya had returned even though his revenge was complete. But once Omi learned that Aya-chan had been kidnapped, everything made sense. No matter what Aya tried to make everyone believe, the rest of Weiss, Omi included, saw through him. When Aya-chan was in danger, and Aya needed help, he had not gone to the police, or searched for Kritiker, or, what was more likely, investigated it on his own.

Instead, Aya had returned to Weiss. Each and every time he said he was no longer part of Weiss, that he did not need it, that he wanted to do his own thing…every time, he had come back, to them and for them, because he needed them and they needed him. Near the end of the Takatori fiasco, Omi, Ken, and Yoji were dying in a makeshift bunker surrounded by helicopters and soldiers, and Aya had driven back to help them at risk of his own life and revenge.

When Schwarz had them cornered, and Manx was helping Sakura-chan and Aya-chan out of the collapsing structure, Aya stayed behind with Weiss. Omi knew that Aya could have gone with Manx then. Aya had his sister and Sakura-chan safe, and he had gotten his revenge on Takatori. He had very small need to eliminate Schwarz for personal reasons, and even if some degree of revenge could be suggested, Omi also was aware that most of it was for Weiss. For Ken, who was being thrown across the room by a laughing Farfarello. For Yoji, who was getting soundly pummeled by Schuldig. And for him, for Omi, who was pinned to a pillar by Nagi's powers. In some sense, too, Aya had stayed for himself. For the safety and friendship he _had_ to have known the others gave him. Omi wondered now if Aya wanted to leave. After all, the swordsman had said he made a decision already.

As for Ken, Omi was almost positive that Ken was going. Ken had, out of the four, been the one who most often felt uncomfortable with specific assignments, and Ken was the one who seemed to have done the best outside of Weiss last time they tried to split up.

And Yoji? To be honest, Omi had the sneaking suspicion that Yoji would stay. Not that he underestimated Yoji, but Omi knew that the wire-wielding assassin had little else to do with his time. Of course, he could waste it on dating girls and drinking in bars, but Omi also saw through Yoji easily, and knew that Yoji needed Weiss, needed a way to do something good and ease his conscience, and, even after the Neu-Asuka incident, needed to deliver some sort of vengeance to the people who victimized innocent women. Because in the end, Yoji still blamed himself for everything that had happened to Asuka, even if Neu-Asuka had tricked him all along.

However, Omi still did not know what to do himself. He wanted nothing more than to keep running the flower shop with his three friends, now that he was finishing up his studies at the high school nearby. He wanted nothing more than to see Sakura-chan and Aya-chan laughing at "silly Ran-san" and watch Ken's confusion at his adoring fans as Yoji looked on with a smirk.

Omi wanted to live among the people who made him happy, but what if they wanted to leave? What if Aya was tired of sitting at the counter, or Yoji no longer felt like teasing? What if Ken wished he did not have to carry petunias and chrysanthemums back and forth all afternoon?

He supposed…he would have to find his own path. And, of course, he needed to let the others know: come hell or death or anything worse, he, Omi Tsukiyono, would always consider them his friends, and they were, under no circumstances, to forget that.


	4. Ken

**Notes:** Well, I suppose I may as well finish putting up the second half of this fic just so I can be done. This is my personal favorite section, mainly because I had so much fun writing it.

The spelling for Yoji/Youji's name has been officially corrected to "Youji", which is the correct romanization of the Japanese.

And I finished watching Gluhen a couple days ago...the ending is terribly vague and sad, is all I have to say.

* * *

_Ken _

Ken liked food.

Food did not ask him to make stupid decisions he should not have _needed_ to agonize over. Food was always the same. Food did not owe him its life, nor did he ever worry about betraying it with his actions. Food did not have sad eyes—hell, food did not _have_ eyes—and food did not make him feel guilty.

So Ken sat in the kitchen and munched on various snacks he found lying around—Omi's jelly desserts, Youji's little hard candies, even some of Aya's wasabi peas. Because the jelly desserts did not look upset, and the candy did not remind him he was an assassin, and even the peas—Ken wondered briefly why Aya liked them so, as Ken found them much too spicy—mostly left him alone.

Ken was here because he did not want to think about what was to come: a decision, on whether to leave Weiss, that he needed to make by tomorrow.

A decision he should have been able to make easily.

Ken had wanted to leave many times, and, for some reason, never did, besides the once when Weiss had formally split. He sometimes had difficulties adjusting to his job, especially when he did not believe in an individual mission, which happened from time to time. He had wanted to go with Yuriko to Australia, and even now, he wondered if there might possibly still be a place for him there.

"How many have you killed?" Youji had asked him bluntly that day. And Ken knew back then that he was a professional killer who would never be able to have love, or normalcy, or a life. He wanted to hate Youji for crushing his hopes, but something in him could not bear the thought of hating any of his three teammates. They were the only ones who knew exactly who and what he was, both sides of him, because they were the only ones who lived like him. They were the only ones he knew he could count on, because in the end, even Kase had betrayed him, and then, he had sent Yuriko away.

Of course, Ken was glad Yuriko was gone somewhere safe. He had seen how ruthlessly the enemy used Sakura against Weiss, knowing that she meant something to Aya. Hell, their enemies had been _good_. Schreient, and Schwarz, and basically all Eszett, had managed to use all sorts of painful information against the four failures who called themselves Weiss. Even besides Kase and Sakura, the enemy had used Aya-chan against Aya her brother, and Neu-Asuka against Youji, and half the Takatori family against Omi. He was glad Yuriko would never be in danger of a sudden abduction by Schreient or random murder courtesy of Schwarz.

And as much as he hated to think of it that way, Weiss was truly a band of failures. If any of them had failed a little less at life, that person would never have known about Kritiker or Weiss, much less Eszett and murder schemes and sudden abductions. They would not have cared. They would have been average people, perhaps caught up in one of the investigations that Weiss always seemed to be doing. They would probably never have met.

That was a thought. Ken mused over this idea as he grabbed another handful of wasabi peas and popped them into his mouth in a continuous stream. What would his life have been like as a professional player? He would have known soccer every waking moment, go to the bars with his teammates occasionally, and he might even have eventually married some typical girl and had some typical children. He would never have lived in a flower shop—or a large pink flower-shop trailer—with three other insane men, or learned the difference between freesias and columbines. He would never have seen a bugnuk, much less used one—and that was assuming he would have known what they were in the first place.

There would be no Omi shouting at everyone to come to breakfast, or hacking furiously on the computer at 2:00 am, or anxiously calling him when he was late coming home. There would be no Aya to sit there looking scary and cold but giving out a feeling of understanding to everyone, or to secretly watch out for everyone's backs. There would be no Youji to tease him about the girls' attentions, or argue with him during tense times just so they could both blow off steam, or offer him a bottle of something alcoholic after a particularly draining mission.

Ken nearly laughed at this, as he remembered how flustered it had made Youji when, one dark rainy night, after a nerve-fraying completion of orders, Omi demanded a drink too. He also recalled the size of Youji's open mouth after Omi downed an entire bottle of whatever Youji let him try. Of course, Ken had been just as shocked, and even Aya, Ken recollected with a grin, had completely forgotten to look dignified, as the swordsman's eyes nearly popped from their sockets. Ken knew he would miss that—watching his friends provoke such varied emotions from each other.

Yes, he would definitely miss Weiss. Still, he was done with being an assassin. He did not need to do this anymore, and was it not always his dream to go back to being normal? He was finished with revenge, and killing, and fear. But forsaking the darkness he lived with also meant losing the other half of his current life.

No more death, no more insanity or pain. He wanted that.

No more Omi or Youji or Aya. The price for peace was not small.

And Aya's peas were _really_ spicy.


	5. Youji

**Notes:** Sorry for ignoring this fic for so long. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's been adding me to their favorite/alert lists. Please do leave a comment if you have the chance...I'd really like to know what people think. Anyway, don't go away yet, there is still an epilogue to come.

Also, I've been working on a very very angsty piece for post-Gluhen, involving four letters, and, oddly, a focus on Omi. When I started writing it, I wanted to do one that sort of focused on all the Weiss, but it sort of suddenly turned into a study of Omi. Anyway, if anyone is interested in seeing it, let me know...PM me or whatever, kay? Thanks!

* * *

_Youji_

Youji was very, very aware of the fact that smoking was a terrible habit. He knew it made him smell like cigarettes, and that it often accidentally burned things, and that his friends hated it. But more than that, he knew that the cigarettes would always be given to him, as long as he paid the yen to the cashier.

He wondered what the price was on non-commercial goods. How much did a friendship cost? A sacrifice? Two? A pretty bauble? A life? It was always hard to tell. Looking back, he knew the price was always different. He had bought Asuka's love with a lifetime full of bitterness. Omi had cost him several narrow escapes and sacrifices, and Ken too. Aya cost way more than he was worth—the same as the others, along with no end of frustration and many changes in plan in order to help Aya not get himself killed for suicidally attempting to make everything better on his own.

A drag on his cigarette, and Youji felt a bit better. He held the stick of death loosely with his lips and returned to his contemplation. How much of what he had bought over the past few years was worth anything to anyone but him? And he did not mean the trinkets and cigarettes and alcohol.

Aya would leave, Youji was almost sure of it. Aya had always proclaimed he was only in Weiss for revenge, and later, to find his sister. Ken would leave as well, because Ken wanted to go all along. That left himself, and possibly Omi. Youji was rather unsure about Omi, as the boy could possibly find himself another job in Kritiker, or just finish up school and live like a normal person. But Youji was almost positive that it would _kill_ Omi not to have people to worry about and a store to fuss over. And the kid was pretty much the best candidate for assassin Youji could imagine. Omi had trained for it from a young age, and he was, besides a master hacker and genius planner, ruthless when he needed to be.

Youji frowned at his cigarette, which was attempting to go out, as if warning him that the fifth cigarette in a row was really too much. He let it. He had been smoking to get his mind off of the decision he had to make, and still his mind wandered back.

Birman had said Kritiker would assign new members to Weiss if only some of the group stayed. Either that, or the remainder would be assigned to new groups. Youji sighed. Weiss was not Weiss without any one of them. The occasional missions they did in smaller groups did not count, as whoever had not gone was always waiting anxiously back at the Koneko, and often showed up at the mission anyway, just to make sure things were going all right. But Weiss without Aya's ice queen glare, or Ken's goofy grin…even if Omi was there, it would simply be all wrong to see two strangers with them. Youji had not yet forgotten that night surrounded by flames and guns and Takatori's army, when the three of them could not triumph, no matter what they did. They escaped the incident alive because of Aya. That, and a minor miracle.

If he was assigned to a new group…Youji supposed he could get used to it. Eventually. After all, Aya had been in another group before Weiss, and Aya had adjusted accordingly. Or rather, Aya had never bothered to adjust to Weiss because he never adjusted to anything. This made Youji grin. _Ah, Aya._ Their resident angst machine. Youji had often been curious, but never felt inclined to actually ask, if Aya ever wanted to return to his old team. The blonde knew it was selfish, but he rather wished Aya would say that Weiss meant more than the old team. That Weiss was different, important, because Youji, Omi, and Ken were his friends.

One of the things Youji hated most was selfishness, so he quickly brought himself away from that train of thought. Youji wanted his friends to be happy, and if that meant they needed to start new lives away from Weiss, he would not convince them to stay.

With a start, Youji realized he had never even considered himself leaving. Maybe he should go off, find a flat, pick up girls every few days to have some fun…but he had tried that last time, and it had not been enough. He had eventually come back to the Koneko, and not just because he was attacked by Asuka. He had come back because of some force of habit that seemed to lure him back to Weiss, that told him Weiss would fix everything. He had not even known the others would come too, though Youji was pretty sure that they had probably all felt the same sort of thing. Weiss would make things better. It always did before.

Anyways, Youji had nowhere to go. Last time, he had not stayed on his own for very long before coming back. He was not about to live like that for the rest of his life. So he would stay, he supposed, and do whatever Kritiker asked.

Though…really. He would have a hard time reminding himself that his friends were gone after this went through. Adjusting to a new team—as, even if Weiss was simply given new members, it would still be a different team to Youji—would also be difficult. Looking back to see someone not-Aya watching his back, or working with someone who did not crash through windows with bugnuk held high…Youji sighed as the cigarette went completely out. He took out his lighter and failed at relighting it. Weiss _was_ Omi, Ken, Aya, and Youji. It was, by now, what the word meant to Youji. Not the name of a color in German, nor a team of assassins working for Kritiker. Weiss meant the four of them. And if Kritiker was going to make up a new Weiss, Youji did not care much for the idea.

Not like it was his place to decide that, though. All _he_ had to decide was if he wanted to stay or not. And Youji knew his answer.

His cigarette still refused to light, so Youji simply stood and made his way to the door. He knew the others would also be dreading this confrontation, but Birman would not be terribly happy if all Weiss suddenly disappeared now. Youji threw his cigarette into an ashtray on the way out and headed for the basement.


	6. Epilogue

**Notes:** Ok, so I did promise I'd update last week, but stuff happened, and I didn't have time. So I'm putting this up really quickly now. This is it, the end, happily (not really ever after; nothing's ever after for Weiss) for a while after.

It didn't end too badly, but this ending was my original intention when this fic started. So. If you'd like something more painful or angstier, I have started a fic entitled "Shards" which is all about the broken pieces of Weiss after Gluhen...mostly Omi. That may someday be put up on ffn, sometime in the future. Anyway. Thanks for reading, and thank you to Eri-ka and C Elise for their reviews of the last chapter, and to everyone who has favorited or commented on this story. I love you all.

* * *

_Epilogue_

None of Weiss looked at each other as they filtered in to their basement. There was a tense and awkward silence that held as they each secretly surveyed the rest.

Who would go? Who would leave? Each assassin weighed the others, knowing only his own choice, and wondering at everyone else's. Seconds ticked by on the clock, and the silence thickened into a cloud, which settled uncomfortably upon the team—for once, completely blank to each other—until the quiet was broken by Birman's footsteps coming down the stairs. She raised both eyebrows upon seeing the sullen group and cleared her throat. Aya did not move, though Ken and Youji joined Omi in watching Birman.

"So?" said Birman. "Time's up, gentlemen. Who's in?"

The four exchanged silent glances for a while. Finally, Youji sat up straight and opened his mouth, as if to give his answer. Before he could begin, however, Omi interrupted the proceedings by jumping to his feet and blurting out, "Minna-san, I have something to say." The others looked at him curiously, so he continued on in a fierce blaze. "I want you all to know that, no matter what you decide to do, Weiss is still our home. And I, Omi Tsukiyono, am your friend, and none of you are allowed to forget that." There was a bit of a pause as the others processed this in their brains.

"I'm in," Youji said slowly, sounding his usual relaxed self.

"I'm in." Everyone turned to stare at Aya, who had spoken. Youji's decision had been somewhat expected by all of them, or at least they were not very surprised. But no one thought Aya would speak up this early and, what was more, choose to stay. Aya smiled a little. "Surprised?" he demanded, with just a hint of smugness in his voice.

"Well, good," Youji retorted, "At least now I can keep an eye on you so you don't get yourself killed doing who-knows-what." Aya smiled again.

"My sister doesn't seem to want to leave the Koneko."

"I'm in," Ken interrupted their conversation. He spoke quickly, and the rest of Weiss could tell by his expression that he was not as sure of his answer.

"You don't need to feel pressured to stay, Ken-kun," Omi said gently. Ken shook his head firmly.

"No. I want to stay. I thought I wanted to go, but now that I'm here, I can't say it." After this proclamation, Ken relaxed greatly and grinned. "And anyway, whose food would I steal if I didn't live with you guys?"

"So _you're_ the one who ate my peas!" exclaimed Aya in mock-indignation. Youji laughed.

"You mean you didn't know? I don't eat wasabi peas, and Omi usually doesn't touch anyone else's food. And Ken smelled very strongly of those stupid peas all day yesterday."

"My peas are very intelligent peas, thank you," Aya declared haughtily.

Omi turned to look at Birman. "Well, they seem to be distracted but…I suppose I need to report too." The woman nodded.

"So? In or out, Omi?" Omi grinned.

"In."

"EHHH?" Youji demanded loudly from behind him. "What's this I hear? Omi is in, too? Well, well. Weiss is still standing. And I thought we would be building a new team by now." Ken poked him.

"I can eat all your Cubyropps for you already. Why do you need a _new_ team?" Youji's eyes narrowed, and he sidled dramatically over to Aya.

"What do you say, Aya?" Youji queried in a stage whisper. "Shall we teach the glutton a lesson about whose food is whose in the place?" A wicked smile was moving around Aya's face, but was never quite allowed to reach his lips.

Ken ran.

"Omi-kuuuuun! They're picking on me!" came Ken's voice from the upstairs as three pairs of feet thundered back and forth on the first floor. Omi sighed at the now-emptier basement, and turned back to Birman.

"Well, thank you for coming up."

"You know, Omi," said Birman as she mounted the stairs. "I'm glad Weiss is still Weiss. It wouldn't quite be Weiss otherwise, you know?" Omi smiled at this strange proclamation.

"I know." And he did.

"Omi! Do something! They're threatening me with cleaning materials!" This time it was Aya. Omi sighed, telling himself a water fight was better than the alternative of having no team. As he mused, he returned to the first floor, to be promptly hit in the eye with a bar of soap.

"Oops," muttered Youji sheepishly, "Sorry. I was aiming for Aya." A dangerous look overtook Omi's face. He could make his teammates clean up the mess later. Right now, he wanted revenge. Weiss style.


End file.
